Sunday, February 25, 2007

Miracle of all miracles, I have finished a project! I am taking the class "Self Expression" through Quilt University. Our assignment this week was to take something from our stash that we "love" (and any fiber artist knows how hard it is to use a favorite fabric - because then we won't have it anymore to dream about!), create an abstract sketch, and make an 8.5 x 11 piece from the sketch, using the favorite fabric.

I chose a blue batik that I've been hanging onto for a while, and a wooden button that I've had for years. The button was a gift from a friend who was in the South Pacific in the Peace Corps. I think it's beautiful but I could not imagine using it. I also chose a brown batik that is fairly new, but that I also love and probably would have avoided using.

The rectangles are cut from a wooden placemat (very thin wood), painted, embossed, and beaded. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and the good news is that I get to keep it! I am also glad to be "caught up" with this class until next weekend. Now to shift my focus to getting some others things finished.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

I haven't posted in a while. We had family in town last weekend, so I didn't work on much. We had a wonderful visit, though! Now it's time to turn my attention back to my commitments ... get those "Miros" finished, and keep plugging away at the elements class. I haven't worked on my water scene much, and the class is onto "fire" now, so that is underway. I'll post more pics soon. I also signed up for another Quilt University class called "Self Expression". I signed up on a whim, the day before the class started. It turns out that it is probably exactly what I have been looking for. It is about finding your own way as an artist - how exciting!

Oh, it's Lent, too. I gave up spending money on unnecessary things. Ought to be an interesting 6 weeks...

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

I belong to an online group called "Textile Challenges". The group owner issues a monthly challenge, which the members can choose to participate in. This past month's challenge was called "Felt Melt". We were challenged to use acrylic felt (the cheap stuff!), place some kind of resist on top of it, and then "melt" it away with a heat gun. These are the two experiments I did. The first (multicolored) one is a tie dye colored felt with various ribbons and fibers stitched onto it, and melted. The second (pink) was a dark brown felt which had a pattern on it. I followed the pattern loosly with white puffy paint and sprinkled with red embossing powder while still wet. After the paint dried, I used the heat gun to puff the paint and melt away the felt. It was a fun experiment and I will probably do more with this in the future.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

I simplified the layout of the rocks, sliced up my water fabric (that was tough!) and started to add some details. Nothing is stitched down yet, which is actually quite annoying, so I think I am going to start stitching and just roll with it and see where it goes. There is a sliver of sand at the bottom of the piece, which you can't see in this picture, but it grounds the piece and gives the eye somewhere to rest near the bottom of the piece. Hopefully I'll have it stitched together and ready to show you soon!

Thursday, February 8, 2007

I added some rock shapes to my fabric. They are just placed on top, not sewn down. I am still messing with the fabrics and placement, so it might not end up like this when I'm done. I hope to find time tomorrow to work on sea spray and fun stuff like that.

I'm taking an online class through QuiltUniversity.com called "Elements in Fabric". We are learning to create realistic scenes of water, fire, air, and earth. First is water. I painted my water fabric today and here is the result. This started out as plain white fabric, and I painted it with watered down Pebeo Setacolor paints. Next, I get to add rocks, sea spray, all sorts of stuff! Painting the fabric was very quick (except for the drying time) and a lot of fun.

Saturday, February 3, 2007

I'm also working on a project to recreate an art masterpiece on fabric. I have just started working on this Miro painting called "Sant Joan d'Horta Chapel", which was painted in 1917. The reproduced piece is approximately 5"x6", which I'm finding is a challenging size to work with! I have a little more painting to do, and then I will trim it up and add some stitching. I'll post a photo when I'm finished.

Last fall we brought our hibiscus plants indoors for the winter. I've never really been successful at over-wintering plants, but they were too pretty to toss in the compost, so I thought I would give it a shot. This past week I was rewarded with two gorgeous blooms from one of the plants. Two of the three plants are actually doing quite well, so I guess I must be doing something right. Only two more months until they can go back outside full-time. That doesn't make winter seem so bad...